Raven's 22 points lead Texas to win over Texas Tech

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Brittainey Raven scored 22 points and Texas beat Texas Tech 70-55 Wednesday night, the Longhorns' third straight victory in a season-ending run they hope could lead them back to the NCAA tournament.

The Longhorns (19-11, 7-9), finished with a losing record in conference play, but the winning streak and and a win or two in next week's Big 12 tournament could be enough to do it.

Keisha Walker scored 14 points to lead Tech (16-14, 4-12), which avoided a second consecutive losing season overall, but set a school record for most losses in the Big 12.

Kathleen Nash added 12 points for Texas.

Texas' last loss was a lackluster effort at home against Texas A&M that seemed to all but end their chances of returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years.

First-year coach Gail Goestenkors set the goal of winning three in row to give themselves a chance. Texas responded by winning its first first league road game of the season and knocked off No. 11 Oklahoma before rolling to an easy win over Tech. Texas led 25-9 after Tech started the game by missing 18 of its first 20 shots and fired up several airballs on 3-pointers.

Tech rallied to get within 27-23 two minutes into the second half. It wouldn't last.

Three turnovers, Ashley Lindsey's third block of the game and a 3-pointer by Earnesia Williams quickly pushed the Longhorns' lead back to 11. On Tech's third turnover, Raven tipped a ball into the backcourt, beat two defenders to the ball and coasted in for an easy layup.

Lindsey, Texas' most improved player this season, then poked the ball away for a steal and followed it with a sharp pass for an assist on a 3-pointer by Raven that put Texas up 39-25.